Necromancer
Three race options are presented to the Necromancer class: Human, Yuan-ti, and Drow. Human Humans are the only good-raced option available, and recently had their hometown changed to Baldur's Gate. Humans have bad mem times compared to the other choices, but have good hitpoints, and is the only race that can group with other goodraced people. Human necromancers can enter Waterdeep, and even group with Paladins if they want. Do not bring undead into Baldur's Gate. The guards are aggro to them. Yuan-ti Yuan-ti are very difficult to start as, sometimes impossible. Hyssk is extremely deadly, having a lot of high-level aggro mobs, deadly traps, and a costly exit method, having to purchase a slave to enter the turtle-ship leading to the mainland. Yuan-ti have great innates, high agility and intelligence, but they lose leg, foot, and ear equipment slots, a heavy loss at the higher end of the game. Luckily, they can see in the daylight, and they get a tail slot to make up for their other slot losses. Drow Drow are the best Necromancer race, in my opinion, and if you're willing to play an evil race. They have a very easy hometown, Dobluth Kyor, that a necro can exp in until much higher level, where everyone hangs out and is very populated by the evil races. Their ultravision is a hinderance, but mostly only for travel to other areas. A drow lich can see in the daylight. Stats Intelligence is best when at perfect. Con should be good or better. Strength and agility are nice to have, but not necessary. Wisdom is not needed at all, but some say it increases the rate at which you improve your skills. Charisma, power, and dex are not needed at all. All these spells are listed in 'help skill_necromancer'. This guide assumes you have already read the spell descriptions provided there. 1st Circle * Detect invis - useful for detecting invis. * Ventriloqute - not useful, just makes a fake voice that's often detected. * Detect magic - useful for checking prots/spell durations. * Preserve - staple of the class, until/unless you lich. * Magic missile - useful damage at low levels. * Animate skeleton - first of many animation spells. * Mage flame - useful for lighting pets (undead). Memming for the Zoner: I usually have 5 detect invis, 5 detect magics, and 3 magic missiles here. Not much else is useful at higher levels. 2nd Circle * Chill touch - useful damage at low levels. * Minor creation - very useful for creating food/water, rafts, and other necessities. * Invisibility - very useful in many situations when you need to remain hidden. * Protection from cold - useful when fighting dragons. * Command undead - only works on undead up to level 25, or half your level, whichever is lower. * Protection from undead - useful for running through undead fields, or fighting a bunch of mages (halves damage from vampiric touch). * Animate zombie - slight upgrade from animate skeleton. 4 minor creation, 2 invis, 3 protection from cold, and 3 protection from undead. These are very useful on many occassions when you need to cast them quickly, like if a white dragon walks in on your group or someone needs some quick food. (Food is currently disabled, but will likely be back) 3rd Circle * Soul bind - essential for animating wraithform undead (shadow, wraith, spectre, ghost). * Pain touch - ok damage at low levels. * Animate ghoul - the first of the classed undead, upgrade from zombies. I mem 11 soul binds here. Need as many of these as I can get. 4th Circle * Sleep - useful against mobs equal to or below your level. * Strength - useful overall to help with dragging, carrying things. * Spectral hand - good damage at low level. * Rejuvenate minor - completely worthless, I have no idea why they have this spell in the game. * Command horde - only works on undead up to level 25, or half your level, something like that. * Dispel magic - useful to keep in case of emergencies, removing people's silence, poison, etc. * Wither - not as useful as damage, raises mob's AC. * Animate shadow - a great undead, first spellcaster, huge upgrade from ghouls. The staple of the levelling necro. 2 sleep, 3 dispel magic, 4 embalm, 2 animate shadow. Sleep is a great utility spell for taking mobs out of the picture, dispel magic is necessary in many places, and can save your life if you're poisoned or flying and need to escape from an area that doesn't allow it. 4 embalms are enough for what I call a 'perma-pres', preserving a corpse enough that it will never rot. 5th Circle * Teleport - useful when travelling places, can be dangerous. * Energy drain - good for healing, can put you above max hps as well. A miniature life drain. * Ray of enfeeblement - not as useful as damage, can be helpful sometimes. * Levitate - useful for travelling and going over water. * Ice storm - rather blah damage, first area spell. * Feeblemind - a great staple spell, very useful against clerics if you can get it to land, huge duration. * Coldshield - useful when fighting solo to deal more damage. * Heal undead - another staple spell, great for keeping fighter pets alive, or healing yourself if you're a lich. * Infravision - useful for human necromancers to see in the dark. * Cone of cold - pretty good damage for its level, hurts wraithform mobs. * Animate wight - Upgrade to ghouls, not so useful, shadows probably better. 1 levitate, 2 feeblemind, 1 coldshield, 6 heal undead. When I need to, I take out the levitate and coldshield for either 2 more feebleminds or teleports. The heal undeads are what I use to keep myself at full hps, use them quite often. 6th Circle * Age - useful to get yourself to the perfect age for hps. * Nerve dance - One of the best mid-circle damage spells, doesn't hurt wraithform. * Minor globe of invulnerability - toned down version of globe. Incredibly few spells are blocked by this. Not useful. * Rejuvenate major - a utility many people ask of the necromancer, to de-age them to the perfect age. * Vampiric touch - great for healing yourself when solo, use it on very low level mobs, flee, do it again. * Ward undead - good damage against undead mobs. * Animate ghast - the best of the flesh-form undead, upgrade from wights. 7 nerve dance and 2 animate ghast. Not much useful in this circle other than those two spells. 7th Circle * Beltyns burning blood - one of the best offensive spells necromancers get. Doesn't hurt non-flesh mobs. * Haste - don't cast this, the duration is too short, but having wraiths cast it on all your hitters rules. * Dimension door - great for travel and emergencies to get back to the group. * Protect undead - good AC spell for your undead if you plan on them tanking, adds half your level in AC. * Animate wraith - an awesome undead animation spell, very useful pets. * Corpse glamor - Useful to let wraithform pets drag, and save moves. Glamored corpses glow purple. 6 beltyns, 1 dimension door, 1 animate wraith or protect undead. This gives plenty of primary fire power while keeping utility. 8th Circle * Rain of blood - great area damage spell, damages everything. * Blackmantle - stops all healing, even if they cast full heal on themselves. Useful when doing multiple runs to kill a single target. * Destroy undead - good undead damaging spell, only useful if you're fighting wraiths (beltyns better on flesh). * Animate spectre - good tank animating spell, upgrade from ghast. This circle I do a lot of switching around of spells. Most of the time, I keep 3 rain of blood and 4 life drains. While fighting zones full of undead mobs, that's switched to 7 rains. While fighting harder clerics that might take more than one run, I'll put in some blackmantles. 9th Circle * Abi dalzims horrid wilting - great area damage spell, doesn't hurt non-flesh beings. Wilting hurts mob AC, half the effect of the wither spell. * Vampiric curse - useful spell, heals hitters, must be quested. Necro only. * Eradicate undead - good anti-undead direct damage. * Globe of invulnerability - very useful to have your ghost cast this on hitters to protect against cold/fireshield. * Animate ghost - the best animation spell, ghosts rock. 5 lich touch and 2 abi dalzim. I switch between abi dalzim and animate ghost whenever I need to animate. Keeping the damage in this circle is important to me, so the utility falls to the side. 10th Circle * Banshee wail - very useful to help land spells like silence, feeblemind, shadow flux, doesn't work on wraithform. * Boneshatter - targeted damage, chance to bash. Necro only. 4 rot, 1 banshee wail, 1 death pact. Overall, this gives me 15 direct damage and 9 area damage spells that can damage a multitude of targets, while leaving enough space for utility spells to help my group. Never need to mem more than one death pact, and banshee wail is usually too long casting to try twice, so rots dominate. Keeping your undead alive and keeping track of where they are and what they're doing at all times is something you must learn to do if you want to achieve the best results from the Necromancer class. Just as a warrior learns how to use sword and shield, we must know how, and when, to control our undead to our advantage, making them an extension of ourself even more than our spells or equipment. The first things to understand are the limitations put on animating mobs. Only non-undead mobs that have been killed can be animated. The 'con' command will tell you what type of undead you can raise from a certain living mob. There are several level limitations placed on necromancers as well. A necromancer starts out being able to animate mobs up to 4 levels above him, but that limit increases as they gain in level, up to 9 levels above him at level 50. Trying to raise a mob above this limit will give you a message similar to 'This is too powerful to raise in that fashion'. Sometimes when attempting to animate a mob that is too powerful for you, you will instead summon a Shadow that is rather tough and will try to kill you. This is very rare, however. Mobs that con 'need some luck' are 1 level above you, 'need lots of luck' are 2 levels above, 'need lots of luck and great eq' are 3 levels above, and 'Do you feel lucky, punk? are 4-5 levels above. Another level limitation is based on the spell used. Every animation spell has a minimum level the mob must be to be raised as that type of undead. It is often 4 levels above the level where the necromancer receives the spell. The message if the mob was too low level is 'You failed to raise the corpse of .' The final restriction is that only mobs that have had soul bind cast on them while they were alive can be animated as wraithform. Soul bind is easier to land if banshee wail/hex/curse have been cast first. The different wraithform undead are: shadows, wraiths, spectres, and ghosts. Also note that all of the spellcasting pets are wraithform (shadows, wraiths, ghosts). A corpse that has been soul bound will have a cyan glimmer at the end. At any particular time, the amount of undead a single necromancer controls is limited by his level and the level of undead. This limit is you can control about 2.5 times your level in the level of undead (very rough estimate, not always accurate - the formula is more complex than this). All undead have a maximum level that they are raised as, based on the spell used, such as wraiths can only get up to level 40. Preserving corpses is essential if you want to keep the undead you raise for any duration. For every 'hour' the spell says it preserves a corpse, that is one added minute to the duration of animation spells, which typically only last 10 minutes or so without preserves. At extremely low level this might not be worth it, but once you get above level 10, and especially once you can raise shadows or other pets that don't die easily, it's essential. Shadows, wraiths, and ghosts can all help to preserve corpses faster. It's a good idea to always give shields to the undead that are classed warriors, but not weapons. I believe they don't proc or vamp if they're wielding a weapon, but shields let them shieldblock/shieldpunch and bash more effectively. Ghast are pretty good tanks this way. Undead are not allowed in any hometown except Bloodstone, Dobluth Kyor, and Hyssk. They will be attacked by the elite guards in any other town, who will then kill you, so be sure to leave them outside when visiting places like Waterdeep or Gloomhaven. Baldur's Gate also does not allow undead, so don't bring any pets inside, or at the very least, don't let any guards see them. Occassionally an undead will crumble the exact second you animate it. This is just a completely random occurance that can't really be prevented, and isn't caused by anything or other, except possibly low skill. Just move on and try to animate something else. Here is some information, not all of which is correct, but will be a good guideline when it comes to undead (Average hps are based on level 50 with max specialize/spellcast necromancy): Animate Ghost: HPs: 525 average Special Info: Classed necromancer. Wraithform. 60% magic resist. Procs damage. Perm haste. Proc: The ghost drains , who recoils in pain. Min level corpse: 45, Level: 46, Max number: 1 Animate Spectre: HPs: 450 average Special Info: Classed warrior. Vamps hps. Wraithform. 60% magic resist. Procs slow. Proc: The spectre tears into , leaving him quivering in fear! Min level corpse: 40, Level: 45, Max number: 1 Animate Wraith: HPs: 450 average Special Info: Classed necromancer. Wraithform. 20% magic resist. Procs damage. Perm haste. Proc: The wraith drains , who recoils in pain. Min level corpse: 35, Level: 40, Max number: 3 Animate Ghast: HPs: 575 average Special Info: Classed warrior. Vamps hps. Procs slow. Proc: As the ghast draws on 's life force, his movements become sluggish. Min level corpse: 30, Level: 35?, Max number: 3 Animate Wight: HPs: 500 average Special Info: Classed warrior. Procs vamp hps and slow. Proc: The wight contacts , who suddenly looks drained. Min level corpse: 25, Level: 30?, Max number: 4 Animate Shadow: HPs: 300 average Special Info: Classed necromancer. Wraithform. Procs damage. Perm haste? Proc: The shadow drains , who recoils in pain. Min level corpse: 20, Level: 25?, Max number: 5 Animate Ghoul: HPs: 425 average Special Info: Classed warrior. Procs ray? Proc: The ghoul digs its claws into , who suddenly looks pale. Min level corpse: 15?, Level: 20?, Max number: 5 Animate Zombie: HPs: 250 average Special Info: Unclassed. No proc. Min level corpse: 10?, Level: 15?, Max number: 6 Animate Skeleton: HPs: 150 average Special Info: Unclassed. No proc. Min level corpse: 5?, Level: 10?, Max Number: 12 Of the spellcasting undead, each are classed Necromancer, and as such, have all of the same spells for their level. Example: a level 25 shadow will have all spells up to 5th circle for a necromancer, but not 6th circle or above. Spellcasting mobs receive spell mem slots just as players do. I know that my level 46 ghosts can cast 5 globes before needing to "mem" them back, which occurs naturally at the end of every tick. Not all spells are refreshed at this time if the undead used a significant amount of them, and they aren't refreshed while in combat. A "wraithform" mob is one that is not solid, either a spirit or ghost-type undead. They cannot be bashed or tripped, nor can they use those abilities themselves. They cannot use any equipment except earrings, and they take significantly less melee damage than flesh mobs, which allows them to be excellent tanks even with bad AC. Controlling undead can be difficult. In combat, they tend to want to do whatever their AI thinks is best for fighting a mob. Spellcaster undead will initially minor globe or major globe themselves, then cast coldshield if they are tanking. If they are fighting a cleric or mage, they will then either cast damage or feeblemind. They also sometimes cast blackmantle in combat. They will not spell themselves up outside of combat unless you order them to. Warrior undead will attempt several of their skills at combat rounds, such as shieldpunch, bash, and sometimes hitall. If you're assisting them, they will hitall less, which means less chance that they will aggro other mobs in the room, and more ability for them to follow your commands. The lag on hitall is considerable, so it might take a while for them to process your commands if they're using it frequently. Undead bash fails often, but they're good at rescuing. To order all of your pets to do the same command, use 'order followers '. Example: order followers cast 'rain' To order a single pet to do something, it's best to use 'order 1.follower ', or 2.follower, etc. Example: o 1.follower c 'haste' todrael;o 2.follower rescue todrael To get rid of all of your pets, it's easiest to order them out of the room, then toggle follow twice. If they are in the same room as you when you toggle follow, they will attack you and try to kill you before they crumble. To get rid of a single pet, order it to consent you, then cast dispel magic on it, or order it to cast dispel magic on itself. Sometimes as a Drow, your pets won't do what you want even though they're not in combat or anything. This could be because they can't see. Drow have Ultravision, which allows them to see in the dark, and currently undead only have Infravision, which only allows them to see red shapes in the dark. This means they can't assist you, target mobs, preserve corpses, or do other things you would think they could. You should carry a light in your container to pull out for these instances. Fighting in the dark can give you an advantage over mobs that don't have Ultra, so you might not want to have it out all the time. Aliases are a necessity when controlling undead. For example, I have 'oce' aliased to 'order followers c 'bel' @enemy', where @enemy is a variable I have set as my current target. I have other aliases for having them haste people in the group, oc is 'order followers cast', ort is 'order followers rescue todrael', etc. Make any aliases you think will help you save time and work more efficiently with your undead. In groups, a necromancer's primary function is to deal damage. Damage is increased by ordering pets to cast damage spells in between every time you cast your own damage spells. In almost all zones, I use 1 ghost and 2 wraiths, which is only possible at level 50. Below that, using 1 ghost and 1 wraith is generally best. Our secondary function is to spellup all the hitters with globes and hastes, taking some load off the enchanter. Aliases work great for this. Necromancers also have an easy time putting up levitates, protection from undead, or protection from cold on an entire group. The spells I cast most often while zoning are banshee wail, death pact, rot, lich touch, and beltyns. Feeblemind is also something I often try. Spellup with globe/haste/pact, order followers cast 'bansh', order followers cast 'rain', cast 'bansh' is often how I start a fight, then switch to damage. I also use embalm quite a bit to help zones go faster by pressing my dead comrades. An important thing to remember is to always keep your pets busy, either casting damage, or tanking something in the room. Backup spellbooks are also important in case you need to CR and can't get to your normal books. Put them in your storage cache in your hometown so they're easily accessible after death. Liching is a long and difficult quest that can only be completed once you acquire level 50 as a Necromancer. I will not reveal any important information about this quest to anyone that asks, but I've heard there are lots of people willing to help with that, no matter how much I disagree. There are detriments as well as great advantages to becoming a Lich. The detriments are that you are outcast from all hometowns except Bloodstone, Dobluth Kyor, Hyssk, and Viperstongue. As a human, a lich will only be able to enter Bloodstone and Viperstongue. The advantages: Liches have no need to eat or drink, they do not age, magically or otherwise, they do not need to breathe underwater, they need no protection from gas on the plane of smoke, they're immune to lycanthropy, they currently have innate infravision which I have been told will become undead vision (see in all light conditions) instead of their race's sight, they can be affected by all spells that target undead (protect undead, heal undead, eradicate undead), gain extra spell slots for every circle, and gain additional spells over and above those they keep from the Necromancer repetoire. The spells you lose access to when you become a Lich are vampiric curse and boneshatter. Spells * Embalm - 6 times better than preserve; putting one on a corpse will ensure that any undead raised with it will last forever. * Locate remains - useful for finding corpses in your current zone, but it can't be targetted at a player name. * Life drain - useful for healing yourself and dealing damage. * Lich touch - great for dealing damage and has a good chance to slow mobs it hits. * Ice tomb - an ok damage dealer and has other side effects such as destroying some fireshields. * Death pact - a great group-effect spell that allows people to be alive even at -100 hps. * Living rot - a great area damage spell that deals its damage over several rounds. *